'做作业' literally combines 做 (zuò, 'to do/make'), 作 (zuò, a variant form of 'work' or 'task' in compound words), and 业 (yè, 'affair', 'business', or 'studies'). Together, it means 'to do homework' — the routine academic work assigned by teachers for students to complete outside class. It’s a fixed verb phrase used almost exclusively in educational contexts involving students of all ages.

The phrase is commonly used in daily conversations about study habits, schedules, and responsibilities. It often appears with time adverbs (e.g., 每天, 现在, 明天) or modal verbs (e.g., 要, 应该, 正在). Unlike standalone nouns, '做作业' functions as an action and requires a subject — usually a student, child, or learner. It does not mean 'to work' in general; that sense belongs to other phrases like 工作 (gōngzuò). The repetition of zuò (in 做 and 作) is coincidental — they are homophones but distinct characters with different roles here.